Shiv Sena to contest 2019 Lok Sabha elections without BJP

Shiv Sena on Tuesday announced that it won’t be an ally to Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and will fight alone in the upcoming Maharashtra Assembly polls and the 2019 Lok Sabha Elections. The decision was announced by Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut. The decision was made after a resolution for the same was passed unanimously in Sena’s national executive committee meeting. Party chief Uddhav Thackeray’s son and young leader Aditya Thackeray was also appointed a member of the executive body in the meeting.

Raut giving the reason behind the bitter break-up said, “The BJP allied with the Sena in the name of Hindutva and the Sena kept patience for Hindutva. However, the BJP in the last three years has been demoralising the Sena and using power to do so.”

In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, while BJP won 23 seats out of the total 48 seats in Maharashtra, Shiv Sena won 18 seats. The two parties then formed an alliance to form a government in Maharashtra.